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Robin van Persie scores twice for Manchester United's under-21 side

Robin van Persie scored his first goals since February with a well-taken brace for Manchester United's under-21 team in their 4-1 win at Fulham.

Van Persie continued his bid to regain full fitness in an 81-minute appearance where he also hit the woodwork.

The Dutchman made his first-team comeback as a late substitute in Sunday's 3-0 defeat at Everton.

The striker, who had been out since suffering an ankle injury at Swansea two months earlier, had been an unused replacement in the loss to Chelsea the previous week.

Manager Louis van Gaal prefers to use reserve-team games to ease recovering players back rather than pitching them straight into competitive games.

And Van Persie had played for 62 minutes at Leicester last Monday, when he set up a goal.

In the former Arsenal captain's absence, skipper Wayne Rooney has re-established himself as United's first-choice striker, while the out-of-form Radamel Falcao came on before Van Persie at Goodison Park.

Joe Rothwell also scored twice in the win at Craven Cottage, while Adnan Januzaj, Tyler Blackett and Andreas Pereira all started.